Shut up and choose

The problem is not just that no-one is willing to compromise, but that no-one is even willing to make a choice at all. There are options we could do, if only people would just bloody choose one. These include :

- Accept May's deal. This is already accepted by the rest of the EU and would prevent the economic cliff edge of a no deal scenario. Many of the provisions for the transition period are actually, almost unbelievably, not awful. Problem : the backstop risks contravening the Good Friday agreement and therefore raises the quite real (for evidence, see recent events) prospect of renewed terrorism in Northern Ireland. Additionally, the EU isn't willing to renegotiate it, so that, with some fairly high degree of certainty, is the best deal we're gonna get. Terrorist activity, that's the best we can hope for if we leave with a deal.

- Seek an extension on Article 50. This would give us time to decide on other options. Not unreasonable, since thus far it's been May's deal or bust (and even those who've tried to negotiate it have themselves quit because it's that shitty). The problem is that an extension requires the agreement of the other member states. Now if we can present a valid case, say, outlining how we're going to proceed and why we need more time to make the decision, this might work. It won't be easy but we could probably do it.

- Unilaterally revoke Article 50. Unlike an extension, Britain has the right to simply stop the whole process without permission from the other members. Then we stay in on current terms (which are exceedingly favourable because - God knows how - prior diplomats seem to have had some degree of negotiation skills). Of course, the Brexiteers (the hardcore - not to be confused with the 52% who voted for Brexit) won't be happy about this, but everyone else will be. Will there be riots ? Quite likely. This strategy only works long-term if we then seek to address the underlying grievances that led to Brexit, which I'm willing to bet in 99% of cases have nothing much to do with the EU at all. The EU is just a scapegoat, a victim of scaremongering and propaganda by a ludicrously unrestrained far-right press for the last few decades.

- Leave with no deal. This is the economic equivalent not of shooting ourselves in the foot but of shooting our legs off. As I understand it, this does not mean replacing the EU trade regulations we currently operate under, but renegotiating with every single other country independently. And Christ on a bike that's a stupid idea. Would this even keep the Brexiteers happy ? No, not at all. They will, after a brief euphoria, in fact be much less happy under the option they claim to prefer. Once the economic hardship kicks in still deeper, they'll keep on blaming someone else for their misfortune and we'll have a lot of angry, stupid, racist, empowered people on our hands. This is a singularly idiotic course of action.

Those, at present, are the choices we have to make. We must also decide how to make it. In principle, Parliament could do it right now, but they seem hell-bent on avoiding any actual decisions. That leaves two options :

- A general election. Sure, in principle, a brand-spanking new government could have a stronger mandate to choose which road to go down (or even open a new possibility if they were to propose one). But that would only happen if the parties were offering a different choice. Since they're singing identical tunes, the choice of government is absolutely meaningless. The Tories have done the best they can (believe it or not, it's probably unrealistic to expect a better deal than the shitty one we've ended up with). Labour say they can do better, but don't offer an iota of a clue as to what they'd do differently, or how. The only possible advantage to this would be if either side would at least say, "we need an extension on Article 50 to decide what to do next". But since they aren't even doing that, changing the particular set of lunatics in charge wouldn't get us anything much at all.

- A second referendum. This is the only option which has even the remote possibility of actually settling the issue. Realistically this should have three options : May's deal, no deal, or no Brexit. A fourth option of seeking a completely different arrangement might be possible. This would then require a third referendum as to which route we want, which probably means we'd be restricted to three options since no-one wants even more referenda. Of course, even the three-option choice could still end up leaving things as divided as ever. Complaints that it risks endless votes are not utterly baseless, but it is similarly wrong to suggest that a second vote is somehow undemocratic. If Brexit is, as has so often been shouted, truly the will of the people, then Brexiteers ought to have no qualms about testing that assertion. In order to make this work, all sides would have to agree that a second referendum - would be the end of the matter.


So even now, at this late stage, there are still sensible choices available (all of the amendments proposed are just window dressing; these are the choices we ultimately can't escape). The problem is that no-one has the courage to choose anything.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-46971390